Sanders a curious choice for Hall

I appreciate the impossible task of the football Hall of Fame selection committee. With such a backlog of deserving players, and limited to only six who can get in each year, the voters can’t win.

And I agreed with most of the decisions by the 40-member voting committee Saturday. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue should not have been elected less than a year after he retired, not when the players have to wait five, and not at the expense of a deserving player like the Broncos’ Gary Zimmerman, who joined Tags on a “who’s who” list of first cuts.

But Charlie Sanders? I don’t get it. He was a good tight end for some sorry Detroit Lions teams. And he was talented. In fact, he had all Hall of Fame skills.

But until the selection committee voted otherwise, Sanders was not worthy of having his bust bronzed.

The exclusivity of the Hall should not be allowing in a modern-era tight end whose career-best season was 42 catches for 656 yards. I know quarterbacks didn’t start zeroing in on tight ends until the 1980s, but Sanders didn’t exactly play in a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust era either.

Sanders played a modest 10 seasons, and averaged just 34 catches and 482 yards. Gimme a break. Bravo to the voting committee for not forgetting Gene Hickerson and Roger Wehrli. And I agree that Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Matthews were no-brainers. But Sanders, who was pushed by the Hall seniors’ committee, was a curious choice.